Another conversation

Kitty Bons
Aug 27, 2017 · 2 min read

Talking about chatbots #1

Chatbots are back! Better and improved. For companies like MIVB, Bol.com and everyone using Facebook messenger. But what are these bots, except just easy access to bulk of information? Are they really the answer to our lack of personal contact? Could they become a part of our social lives? Here, I publicly ponder these questions.

At the moment chatbots are used as a kind of interactive FAQ. But recently I’ve been wondering if they could also help us in another way. An important part of social interaction for me is helping people. It’s satisfying to be there for another human being. Even taking care of a pet, of a plant involves our human desire to help. Could we help chatbots in the future?

In a conversation last weekend, I shared my idea about a reverse chatbot. In this case, we could help the bot. But could this get us a sense of reward like helping another living thing can?

There are possibilities. In the past, I helped a computer online through Zooniverse, identifying bits of information for science. And of course, forums and tutorials have been a considerable part of the internet forever, because we want to share our knowledge and help people. Now, our conversations help AI became more like a human. But do computer need more help from us?

In the conversation last weekend, Nicole pointed out that we shouldn’t help computers, but we should focus on lonely people in our community. Like old people, who need company. Later that day I heard a podcasts where Nicole’s remarks are applied, on people who took drugs.

Helping humans find humans who need help.

On this Reply All-episode, the host talks to the mysterious Reality, who spends most of his time in a chatroom called Tripsit. Here, he encounters people on psychedelics, who often loose their sense of reality. Through conversations and calming music, he guides them through a trip which can be rather overwhelming.

But it’s not just drug-related altruism which drives him. The trippers will engage in open, empathic conversations, different from our daily nitpicking tone. He’s convinced psychedelics can improve our sense of self and our empathy. Through chatroom conversations, he can be part of human transformation.

So maybe it’s not chatbots, but chatrooms that need a revival. Connecting helping humans with help seeking humans, and transforming our social lives through digital technologies.

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Kitty Bons

Written by

Tech student, artist and all round curious. Other interests include swimming pools, podcasts and online marketing.

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